Overview
- Metropolitan Police arrested Brahim Kaddour-Cherif in Finsbury Park on Friday after a member of the public recognized him following his mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth on 29 October.
- Government data show 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025, up from 115 the previous year, with 90 cases involving violent or sex offenders.
- Multiple reports say at least four wrongly released prisoners are still at large, with two cases dating to 2024 and two to June 2025.
- Justice Secretary David Lammy has ordered tougher release checks, commissioned an independent investigation and begun efforts to replace paper-based processes, while facing questions over when the new checks took effect.
- Police were informed of Kaddour-Cherif’s release days after it happened, and a second Wandsworth case, Billy Smith, handed himself in on Thursday.